Journeys
by Mad Dog Matteson
Summary: The greatest professional competition is hosting an amateur tournament. Enjoy!


* * * * * M A T T H E W * * * * *

I hate sleeping in. Most people love it, and love the chance to do it. They can have it as far as I'm concerned. I always wake up with a headache due to an energy blockage, and my lower back hurts because of the way I sleep.

That being said, it's still just so damn hard to get out of bed.

I took one last stretch, slowly tensing all of my muscles, feeling the blood rushing and waking my body up. I then stood and stretched again, then sat down as I got light-headed. When it cleared, I stood again and gave my morning scratch and lumbered to the bathroom.

After starting the water for a shower, I took a moment to study myself in the mirror. I had a few days' worth of stubble, enough that it would shape into a nice goatee once I shaved. I was also putting on a little extra weight, but that always happened at the change of the seasons.

_'No,'_ I chastised myself. _'That's only a reason to train harder, not an excuse to let it happen.'_

Once the water was hot enough, I stripped out of my boxers and tossed them into the hamper using my foot. I wasn't trying to be fancy or anything, I just didn't feel like bending over to pick them up this soon after getting out of bed. Sue me. I then grabbed my razor and jumped in the shower.

After I toweled off, I went back to the bedroom and threw on my usual ensemble - black undershirt, black hoodie, dark denim carpenter's jeans. I then laced up my black combat boots and went outside to get the mail.

Just outside the door, I stopped and took in a deep breath. The newly autumn air smelled great. I love autumn. Not as hot as summer, not as cold as winter, and it didn't have all the damn rain storms and tornados that came in the spring.

I live in a small little house on the edge of town in Green Hill, Missouri. The yard was rather plain, no fancy landscaping or lawn ornaments, just a single tree. I just felt there were better things to was my time and effort on. I didn't have much money, but I got by. I had a few nice things, namely my bike a couple weapons, but those were mostly paid for with money gotten from doing odd jobs and other under-the-table kinds of transactions. Nothing illegal, just nothing formal, either. Keeping my decor low-key was also a form of home defense - why would someone hit my house when just down the road was a lawyer with a really shiny red car?

I opened the mailbox, and pulled out the contents. Not much there. Typical.

Back inside, I tossed the mail on the coffee table and went into the kitchen to make some brunch. I fried up some scrambled eggs, then threw them in a bowlwith some kimche on top, then liberally applied powdered garlic. Man, I love garlic. I grabbed a pair of chopsticks and went back to the living room.

After I'd finished eating I picked up the mail. Two credit card applications. A notice that my electricity was about to be turned off. And something in an off-white envelope with gold Oriental-style trim. No return address, either. Weird.

I mercilessly tore into the envelope. They should have thought twice before sending me something that shiny.

I unfolded the letter and my jaw dropped. It was an invitation to a tournament. Not just any tournament, _the_ tournament. The kind of competition that was invitation-only, and only the absolutely best were even considered. I wondered how they heard about me, it had been a while since I'd fought in any competitions, and most of those were small circuit.

A couple years ago, there was an amazing technological breakthrough. Through the use of some kind of portal technology (I won't even pretend I know how it works), we had found a way to travel to toher worlds. A couple worlds were similar to our own. Some were like something out of a fantasy movie. More still had advanced far beyond our own. Tourism and trade exploded.

One of the worlds discovered was a kind of blank slate. All ocean, save for one island roughly the size of Australia.

Capitalism struck, and this blank slate's lone continent became home to the largest city I had ever heard of. The main reason this city was existed was to be a kind of melting pot for all civilizations that had been "found." It was also host to titanic-sized competitions. Of these, the most popular was simply called "Smash." And so, the city became to be known as Smash City.

Smash basically pit warriors of every variety against each other in various rulesets. The invitation that now set on the coffee table as I let everything sink in, was for me, Matthew Richard Maddock, to compete in an amatuer tournament.

* * * * * L I N K * * * * *

I shouldered my pack as I walked into my new home. It wasn't exactly the treehouse I had back in Ordon Village, but it would have to do. For the duration of this tournament, we had use of these barracks. My room wasn't huge, but it wasn't exactly cramped, and I sawe all sorts of ammenities I couldn't recognize. Hopefully when I met my roommate, they could explain to me what these things were , assuming they came from a society that had such things, and not from a simple farming village like me.

I set my belongings down next to the dresser I was claiming and began unpacking. I had only brought two green tunics aside from the farmhand clothes I was wearing. I put the tunics in the middle drawer, my leather bracers and undergarments in the top. The bottom drawer was empty for now.

Next out of the pack came my shield and sword. Well, I say 'my' shield and sword because I am the current owner. I had taken them when one of our village's guards left them unattended before I left home. Well, he shouldn't have left them alone, and I needed _something_ to compete with. I was never good bare-handed, and the few times I had handled a training sword, I was pretty good.

I set my sword and shield in one of the closets and locked it using the key I found on the shelf, then placed the key in my money pouch. I would have to get a key ring or something later.

My stomach growled as I held the money pouch, and decided to look for some food. Who knows? Maybe I'd find something comparable to an Ordon steak...

* * * * * T E R R A * * * * *

"Terra! Hurry up! I wanna see the next shop!" Rikku shouted to me through the bustling streets of Smash City. I tried to follow her as best I could, but it was hard for me to push through the crowd. There were so many people that I was surprised anybody could move. Somehow Rikku could manage without much trouble.

It was a machine shop, with shiny pieces of almost everything imaginable strewn about on tables everywhere. It didn't look very organized at all. Rikku didn't seem to mind, she was at a table on the left wall of the little store, closely examining each piece for a brief moment before absently discarding it on the table, more or less where she had found it.

"Do you like machina, Terra?" She asked me, looking through a small disc shaped from glass with a funny look on her face that made me laugh a little. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," I replied as I picked up a small disc that was similar to the one Rikku had, but this one was blue. "I have to admit I don't really know much ab-"

"You found it!" Rikku exclaimed as she snatched the disc from me and ran to find the store clerk. "Hey mister! How much for the lense?"

I watched her go with a smile on my face. It was good to see someone so excited about something they had a passion for. Maybe I'd find something I loved that much, too. Although maybe I had and just didn't know it. Everything just seemed so foggy lately.

As Rikku haggled with the shopkeeper, I chanced a look out the window and across the street. There, I saw four large lizard-like people with piercings all over their faces harrassing a stall vendor. He was frightened, and I'm not sure how I knew, but I felt that things were about to get vioent. Without even thinking, I balled my fists and walked out the store.

This time, it was easy making my way through the street.

"So you _are_ saying we stole from you?" One of the lizards said.

"No! Please! I said nothing of the sort! Take it! It is a gift!" The man frantically pleaded, and seemed to be on the verge of breaking down.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled from where I stood on the edge of the street. I shook with fear, and my voice wavered, but my face still flushed with anger. All four creatures turned to look at me. "Please, just go about your business, he means you no harm."

"Little girls should keep more to themselves," replied a third, "that way, they don't get hurt!" He walked towards me, moving a little faster than I would have thought something so big could move. I stood my ground when he came near, and as he drew back an arm, I saw someone move from the corner of my vision. Suddenly, a big man in a heavy black shirt with a hood stood between me and the lizard. He slapped a hand on the back of the creature's fist and turned its wrist to the outside, then his right fist connected under its snout. Before the creature had even hit the ground he had turned to face the remaining three, and fire instantly engulfed his fists.

"And ugly lizards things had better start fights with people their own size, it's only fair." he said.

"What did you call us, you disgusting little worm?" said the shortest of the lizards. His face held more piercings than the other three, and the way the others gave him room to move forward made it look like he was in charge.

"You heard me, Scales. You guys want a fight, bring it to me. But leave this girl alone."

"Do you even know who I am, whelp?"

"I do, but that means I have the advantage, you've never seen me before, and you have no idea what I'm capable of." At that time, I saw another person approaching from the crowd that had gathered around us. He had messy long brown hair, deep blue eyes and long ears. As he pushed through the crowd, he stooped down and picked up a stick from the ground. He stood by the other man in a swordsman's stance.

"I'm not sure what you're hoping to do," said the man with the stick, "but you're going to need some help." As he said this, the lizard that had been struck down rose to his feet and stood next to the others as they came near.

"That'll work," replied the man with the flaming fists. "You get the ugly one."

"Hey!" Called Rikku as I saw her run up with some kind of little device. she stood in front of the two men, and dropped it on the ground. "Now would be a good time to run. Move!"

The device started to light up, and as it went off in a bright flash, I felt myself grabbed by a pair of strong arms and roughly carried away. When my vision cleared, the four of us stood in an alleyway a few buildings away from where we were at. It was the man with the black shirt who had grabbed me.

"I don't know what you were trying to prove, standing up to a bunch of monsters capable of eating you, but I think I like you. Name's Matt."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Alright, I know it went way too fast, but it's been a while since I've actually worked on anything, and I'm mostly doing this out of boredom. The next chapter is already in progress, and will have more substance to it, and will explain a few things. So until then, just wait patiently by your computer. You might wanna go and get a snack, though, this could take a while...


End file.
